"Oh, Poppie! And didn't they say anything to you? I wonder they didn't take you up." "They couldn't find me. I thought Jesus Christ would help me. He did." What was Mr. Spelt to say? He did not know; and, therefore, unlike some, who would teach others even when they have nothing to impart, he held his peace. But he took good care not to let her go out in that dress any more. "Didn't you get any ha'pence?" he asked. "Yes. I gave 'em all to the boy. I wouldn't if the cart hadn't gone over him, though. Catch me!" "Why did you give them to him?" "Oh, I don't know. I wanted to." "Did he take them?" "Course he did. Why shouldn't he? I'd ha' tookt 'em." Mr. Spelt resolved at last to consult Mr. Fuller about the child. He went to see him, and told him all he knew concerning her. To his surprise, however, when he came to her onset with the broom, Mr. Fuller burst into a fit of the heartiest laughter. Spelt stood with his mouth open, staring at the sacred man. Mr. Fuller saw his amazement. "You don't think it was very wicked of your poor child to pray to God and shoulder her broom, do you?" he said, still laughing. "We're told to forgive our enemies, sir. And Poppie prayed against hers." "Yes, yes. You and I have heard that, and, I hope, learned it. But Poppie, if she has heard it, certainly does not understand it yet. Do you ever read the Psalms?" "Yes, sometimes. Some of them pretty often, sir." "You will remember, then, how David prays against his enemies?" "Yes, sir. It's rather awful, sometimes." "What do you make of it? Was it wicked in David to do so?" "I daren't say that, sir." "Then why should you think it was in Poppie?" "I think perhaps David didn't know better." "And you think Poppie ought to know better than David?" "Why, you see, sir, if I'm right, as I fancy, David lived before our Saviour came into the world to teach us better." "And so you think Poppie more responsible than a man like David, who loved God as not one Christian in a million, notwithstanding that the Saviour is come, has learned to love him yet? A man may love God, and pray against his enemies. Mind you, I'm not sure that David hated them. I know he did not love them, but I am not sure that he hated them. And I am sure Poppie did not hate hers, for she gave the little rascal her coppers, you know." "Thank you, sir," said Spelt, grateful to the heart's core that Mr. Fuller stood up for Poppie. "Do you think God heard David's prayers, against his enemies?" resumed Mr. Fuller. "He gave him victory over them, anyhow." "And God gave Poppie the victory, too. I think God heard Poppie's prayer. And Poppie will be the better for it. She'll pray for a different sort of thing before she's done praying. It is a good thing to pray to God for anything. It is a grand thing to begin to pray." "I wish you would try and teach her something, sir. I have tried and tried, and I don't know what to do more. I don't seem to get anything into her."